Sunday, April 5, 2015

A Fistful of Moments Blogathon

So, the wonderful Andrew over at A Fistful of Films made this post the other week about 10 Great Cinematic Moments, and obviously it was incredibly inspiring - one of those posts that remind you why you love films and writing about them and sharing that love with others. So much so that I told him in a comment that it would make for an incredible blogathon. Thankfully, he obliged, and now there will be even more inspiration to spread around! This is what he originally said about Great Cinematic Moments:

We all have them in the back of our minds; those moments that make us
think "man, this is what the movies are all about". We relive those
moments in our mind's eye, remembering them and dissecting them and
adoring them. They come in all shapes and sizes, from all types of
films, and yet they all share one very important aspect; they define why
we love the movies. It could be the way that the moment is cut; the
way it's edited together. It could be the way the moment uses it's
actors to evoke a powerful emotion from us. It could be the way that
music floods the scene and draws us even closer to the moment in
question. It could be a grand climax, a breathtaking introduction or a
simple interchange. It could be any and all things, because for every
film lover, the list is different.

I, uh, started making this list the day the blogathon was announced and found that I could not stop. And as more and more people started posting their lists, I began cursing myself for not including certain things! As usual with lists - even unranked, representative lists as opposed to ranked, ordered, definitive lists - I want it to be perfect. So I kept adding, and then replacing, and moving around... and finally I just said FUCK IT. Here are 50 Great Cinematic Moments, some of my favorite moments in movies. For your reading (and viewing, where possible) pleasure.

Norman cleans up (Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock) The single greatest act of audience manipulation EVER. Even now, after I've seen it a million times, I'm still holding my breath throughout this entire ordeal, hoping Norman doesn't get caught. Don't forget the paper, Norman! How does Hitchcock DO this?!?

Dream Sequence (Sherlock, Jr., Buster Keaton) How did such a perfect meta-cinematic moment arrive so early in the history of the medium? A triumphant feat of editing.

La Marseillaise (Casablanca, Michael Curtiz) Not just perfectly shot and edited, but perfectly placed in the narrative.

Angkor Wat (In The Mood for Love, Wong Kar-Wai) As swoon-worthy as Wong's images are, his use of sound is just as impactful, nowhere more so than here. A secret told, a promise kept, a soul cleansed.

One last playtime (Toy Story 3, Lee Unkrich) I could go as far as saying the entire last twenty minutes of this (as far back as the incinerator scene). Also, that now-famous Boyhood "I just thought there would be more" thing? Pixar did it first. And better. But the last scene is really where it's at. Cue crying in 5... 4.. 3...

...and here are ten more:

Elysian Fields (Beasts of the Southern Wild, Benh Zeitlin) My heart feels like it's about to burst. I don't know how this little girl with no previous acting experience was able to convey so many, and such complex, emotions. This scene is magical - even if it's not Hushpuppy's mom frying up that gator.

Marylee's Mambo (Written on the Wind, Douglas Sirk) This "forbidden dance" has never felt more forbidden. The intermingling of sex and death has never been more potent.

The Nightclub Shot (Playtime, Jacques Tati) Mind-boggling. (I can't find a video of this but trust me, if you've seen it, you know why I've included it: In this one shot, lasting about thirty seconds, there are at least six storylines converging, each one HILARIOUS.)

Loretta walks home from Ronny's (Moonstruck, Norman Jewison) Falling in love is such a high - even when it's someone with whom you know you shouldn't be falling love.

"No photos, please" (L'important c'est d'aimer, Andrzej Zulawski) The whole first scene, really. Heartbreaking look behind the mask of an actress pushed to her brink - she will demean herself to do this in order to keep acting? (Sorry for lack of subtitles in the clip - if you don't speak French, the director keeps yelling at her "Sens-le!" or "Mean it!", and what she says in that heartbreaking close-up translates, very roughly, as "Please don't take any photos. No, I'm a real actress - I used to do good things. I need the money, that's all. Please. No photos. Please.").

"Love for Sale" (De-Lovely, Irwin Winkler) One song, one shot, multiple timelines, converging brilliantly into a perfect vision of a place and time and people.

Through the Mirror (Orpheus, Jean Cocteau) What was a good but rough effect in the earlier Blood of a Poet here becomes a fully realized, stunning passage to another world.

Married Life (Up, Bob Peterson & Pete Docter) Puts most live-action films to shame over the course of four minutes. Fuck that, over the course of the last two edits. Every time that house got so much as a nick in its paint over the course of the film, I gasped and teared up, and all because of the groundwork laid right here.

"Do you believe in an afterlife?" (Cloud Atlas, The Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer) The Wachowskis' grand, ambitious folly is often thrilling, but this particular scene so brilliantly encapsulates the ideas at the heart of David Mitchell's book and the perfectly cinematic way they chose to adapt it. It also makes me weep buckets for no good reason, since James D'Arcy and Doona Bae can barely emote through all that makeup. But the emotion still comes across somehow. D'Arcy in particular just slays me. This is the scene where the movie finally clicked for me, and shifted it into All-Time Favorite status.

Beth's final scene (Little Women, Gillian Armstrong) A RIVER OF TEARS (This is the first scene that ever made me cry. It still does.)

Opening Scene (A History of Violence, David Cronenberg) The cinematography is great, the acting... but the star is the sound. That constant buzzing of insects immediately puts you right in that place.

"The Blower's Daughter", reprise (Closer, Mike Nichols) Not so much tears as supreme melancholy. Horrible people get their comeuppance - but do they really deserve it?

First Flight (How to Train Your Dragon) Some kids have always wanted to go to Hogwarts. I have always wanted to have a pet dragon. This is why. God bless Roger Deakins for this!

The Bride vs. O-Ren Ishii (Kill Bill, Vol. 1, Quentin Tarantino) Perfectly shot, edited, and scored. The second that Santa Esmerelda song kicks in, it's all over - I'm giddy at the prospect of what's to come.

"That's How You Know" (Enchanted, Kevin Lima) Ladies and gentlemen, the power of musical numbers, writ large. Pure, unadulterated joy (with a perfect dose of disbelief courtesy of Patrick Dempsey).

...and ten from TV (because the small screen can be cinematic, too!)

The entirety of "The Body" (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) Death comes for us all. And there is no preparing for it.

"Don't Stop Believin'" (Glee) - Easily the most iconic television moment of my lifetime, and one that still retains its elemental power to thrill even after the terrible horrible no-good very bad mess of wish fulfillment that show became.

The entirety of "White Bear" (Black Mirror) The most scathing indictment of modern culture yet put on film - and the most wicked twist of an ending. A gut punch, and then a twist of the knife. And then it just keeps twisting.

20 comments:

Glad you included Andy's farewell, here! I have said, on multiple occasions, that It took Boyhood 3 hours to do what Toy Story 3 did in the final 10 minutes. I didn't hate Boyhood, but thank goodness it didn't win Best Picture.

I almost included the dance scene from Perks, but it just didn't quite stack up. I love that movie!

Also, I LOVE Beasts of the Southern Wild, and the entire thing amazes me, cinematically. I just couldn't pick one moment that stood out!

Well, to be fair, it kind of took all of the Toy Story films to achieve that very last scene, but still. I wasn't a crazy fan of them or anything, and I was completely gutted by the end. I have never cried so much in a movie. I feel exactly the same way about Boyhood as you do. I actually think winning Best Picture would have been the worst possible thing for its legacy.

There were a few films here that I could have included multiple moments from (Amelie, Moulin Rouge...) and Beasts is one of them. I could also have easily chosen the climax where Hushpuppy stares down the Auroch, but the Elysian Fields scene just makes my heart grow three sizes every time I even think about it. So beautiful!

YAY! I'm glad you expanded on your initial list, because these are some great moments! I'm so happy you mentioned those scenes in Beauty and the Beast and Chicago especially because NO ONE ELSE DID!!! Those are such beautiful and iconic cinematic scenes, and they needed to be mentioned!

So many great choices. First I have to say I love the inclusion of that shot from Friends. It really is a key moment in the show. I can't list all the ones I love, there are just too many, so I'll just pick my favorite four.

That whole sequence in Written on the Wind is so brilliantly shot with the quick cuts that give so much information in just about two minutes. Then there's the other Sirk, Imitation of Life which I know you love as do I. The prostration on the casket is tough on the emotions but for me it's Sarah Jane hugging the door weeping after Annie has left her hotel room that has always hit me the hardest.

The other two are the Judy Garland films. When she opens the door onto Oz it's breathtaking, especially if you see it on a big screen. Lastly "The Man Who Got Away" number is so splendidly staged. I'm guessing that you've seen the original concept for the number which was all browns with the band set back from her. Judy was singing so of course that element was superb but the rest was muddy and Cukor's restaging of it adds so much power.

UGH that last scene between Annie and Sarah Jane... devastating. I've always seen it as set-up for the bigger tears to come, though. But it definitely gets the waterworks started (although I think Kohner overdoes the very end of the scene just a tad).

Yes, I've seen the original concept for "Man Who Got Away" and am so glad they didn't go in that direction. It feel surprisingly natural for a musical of that era, which I think is part of its power.

Dude, you killed it on this one! I actually teared up a couple times scrolling through these. True power all over this page. Beasts of the Southern Wild, To Kill a Mockingbird, Up. All of those moments easily could've made my list as well.

About Me

Performer since birth, tap dancer since the age of 10. Life-long book-lover. Film obsessive. Frustrated artist since college graduation. Non-profit database specialist by day, tap teacher by night, Netflix binge-watcher by weekend.